New CAOT Position Statement: Occupational Therapy to Prevent and Support Recovery from Suicide
CAOT’s new Position Statement, Occupational Therapy to Prevent and Support Recovery from Suicide, was launched to coincide with World Suicide Prevention Day on September 10. The document highlights the meaningful role of occupation across the suicide prevention continuum.
Along with its new vision, the document includes five calls to action guiding the advancement of suicide prevention work by engaging occupation and occupational therapy professionals and equips decision-makers with an overview of why occupational therapy is important. There are also descriptions of how occupational therapy contributes to suicide prevention, intervention, and postvention; and details about how occupational therapy professionals can facilitate meaningful outcomes.
The advocacy document was created with the support of CAOT’s Addressing Suicide in Occupational Therapy Practice Network. They selected the orange and yellow butterfly and OT image in the associated visual to represent not only the Canadian suicide prevention colours, but to also signify hope through occupation and the possibility for things to change. CAOT is grateful to the Practice Network members for all their energy and expertise in creating a timely document of great importance to the profession. Click here to read the CAOT Position Statement: Occupational Therapy to Prevent and Support Recovery from Suicide.
A Truth and Reconciliation Commitment Statement from Canada’s Leading Occupational Therapy Organizations Signals a New Path Forward
On September 30, Canada’s leading occupational therapy organizations reaffirmed their dedication to Indigenous Peoples in Canada through addressing the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) of Canada’s Calls to Action with the announcement of a joint Occupational Therapy TRC Commitment Statement.
The document was developed with leadership from the Occupational Therapy TRC Task Force’s Co-Chairs and Métis occupational therapists, Angie Phenix and Kaarina Valavaara, along with invited allies and members of the Boards of Directors of the Canadian Association of Occupational Therapists (CAOT), the Canadian Occupational Therapy Foundation (COTF), the Alliance of Canadian Occupational Therapy Professional Associations (ACOTPA), the Association of Canadian Occupational Therapy Regulatory Organizations (ACOTRO), and the Association of Canadian Occupational Therapy University Programs (ACOTUP).
The organizations acknowledge that “transforming our colonial reality must be a responsibility shared by all Canadians” and the Commitment Statement represents “beginning steps in embracing this shared responsibility” with acknowledgement of the harmful colonizing narratives, policies, and practices in the Canadian occupational therapy profession and a commitment to change within their respective mandates.
The TRC Task Force was guided by the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), the TRC of Canada Calls to Action, and the Final Report on the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG) in developing the statement. Click here to read the Occupational Therapy TRC Commitment Statement.
Free Webinar Integrates the CanMOP, Collaborative Relationship-Focused Occupational Therapy, and the COTIPP in Practice
CAOT has created a new free webinar in English about the Canadian Model of Occupational Participation (CanMOP), collaborative relationship-focused occupational therapy, and the Canadian Occupational Therapy Inter-Relational Practice Process (COTIPP) framework were introduced in Promoting Occupational Participation: Collaborative Relationship-Focused Occupational Therapy.
This fourth webinar in the series (the other three webinars are available in English and French) is designed to support the integration of the new Canadian model, approach, and framework into your practice. Presenters Angie Phenix, Kaarina Valavaara, Dr. Mary Egan, and Dr. Gayle Restall share their knowledge in this free webinar to describe several key concepts embedded in the latest Canadian model, approach, and framework that set them apart from previous versions. They also discuss the implications of these concepts in everyday practice and how the model, approach, and framework can help clinicians become equity-, justice-, and rights-based therapists. Click here to watch the free webinar.
Fourth webinar - English
Three webinars - French
Three webinars - English